


Blood Vengeance

by jebbypal



Category: Firefly
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2005-11-04
Updated: 2005-11-04
Packaged: 2017-10-10 05:01:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 593
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/95764
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jebbypal/pseuds/jebbypal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Death seems to follow him. Spoilers for Serenity the movie</p>
            </blockquote>





	Blood Vengeance

For a moment, he thinks the carnage and noise must be a flashback. Haven has been the epitome of its name since he joined the settlement. At long last, the world made sense again. Book finds comfort in being able to wake without wondering if today he would commit another mortal sin for the sake of _Serenity_'s crew.

Of course, on rare days, he misses _Serenity_. The excitement and camaraderie. Despite his faith, Book has always been worried that his adrenaline addiction would override his moral compass. As much as he felt it was his calling to save all the souls on _Serenity_, the risk to his own had finally become too great.

Judging from the blood flowing in the street underneath young Jamal's body, he won't be missing the excitement of life on the raggedy edge today.

At the sound of gunfire, Book instinctively drops to the sandy floor. Fortunately for him, lessons learned in Basic Training are never quite forgotten no matter how much one decides to dedicate themselves to a life of peace.

Dirt and dust rain down on him from the explosion of a mortar round and his chest seizes with coughing. The hut won't last long as a shelter, but the still bodies in the dirt outside mark wide-open spaces as a folly.

Crawling to the door, Book takes in the terror-stricken tableau. One of the anti-aircraft guns - necessary this far out on the Rim to ensure safety against Reavers - fires haphazardly at the sky, but the gunner is no match for an Alliance-trained pilot. Mere seconds later, the entire battlement at that end of the village explodes.

Book knows the distance to the other set of guns by heart. Old habits die hard. Intuition tells him that his chances of making it the entire way without injury ("Death," whispers the darker part of his psyche) are slim. Staying put might allow him to survive, assuming that the attackers don't launch a ground force, but the anger that caused him to leave _Serenity_ flames at the injustice of what is unfolding.

These people just wanted peace. Since settling, they'd received little help from the Alliance and asked for less. Along side the anger, the guilt he's carried for far too long grows with every dead body he sees.

_This is his fault. _

If not for him ("If not for _Serenity_," the voice insists), life here would never have been interrupted.

Crouched low, he begins to sprint for the sandbags protecting the other anti-aircraft gun. Behind him, he hears the impact of every round that hits the ground as the ships continue to pound the small settlement back into the dirt from which it had risen. Searing pain alerts him when ricocheting shrapnel slices his gut open even as his focus narrows on his goal. The injury slows his progress, but in a matter of seconds, he's stumbling over the bags.

The rest doesn't take long. He's an exceptional shot, whether he's shooting at vehicles or knees. Once, it was all the same to him. But now, now it's important. This act of vengeance ("Justice," counters the reawakening voice) will likely be his last. With one pull of the trigger, he makes it count.

More blood on his hands. He prays for forgiveness even as he damns himself for every drop he's ever spilled.

Lying back against the bags, Book tries to stem the flow of his own life in vain. He needs to hang on though. He has something very important to tell Mal when he comes.


End file.
